This past week at the American Bar Association Health Law Section 11th Annual Conference on Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law in Phoenix, top officials from the Obama administration gathered to discuss the latest developments in healthcare fraud and enforcement. With trillions of dollars a year being funneled to healthcare providers for goods and services, Justice Department officials detailed how the industry is ripe with instances of fraud.

We are disappointed that the Federal Trade Commission has decided to appeal its loss of the Red Flags litigation in the District Court. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals resoundingly upheld the American Bar Association’s lower-court victory in 2005 against the commission in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley lawsuit, and we are anticipating no less a victory in this case.

ABA Journal’s March 2010 issue cover story “The William Rehnquist You Didn’t Know” features excerpts from Herman Obermayer’s 2009 book, Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States. The ABA Journal’s short vignettes paint a picture of a very private man, as seen through the eyes of his dear and close friend. From Rehnquist’s obsession with punctuality, to his frugality, to his deep intellect and love of literature, movies, gossip and cigarettes, Obermayer shares with readers a side of the chief justice rarely seen or known outside his small circle.

The American Bar Association is addressing its value and relevance to each member and now is retooling its dues structure as a big step in rethinking how it serves the lawyers of America. The ABA House of Delegates today approved a new dues structure that will reduce costs by up to 50 percent for solo practitioners and by 25 percent for those who already receive a discount: government lawyers, lawyers employed by nonprofit legal services programs and judges.

The American Bar Association House of Delegates took action on a broad spectrum of issues affecting national and state-level policy during its 2010 Midyear Meeting, Feb. 8-9.

The fifth ABA HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference brought together healthcare providers, case workers and social service professionals and lawyers to discuss how HIV-related law and policy affects their work. The following are selected highlights from the two-day event, which took place in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with the American Bar Association 2010 Midyear Meeting.

Discussion of diversity in the legal profession must grow more nuanced than it is now in order to support progress, according to “Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps,” a report formally issued during the American Bar Association 2010 Midyear Meeting in Orlando, Fla., by the ABA Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity that was created by President Carolyn B. Lamm of Washington, D.C.

Ruling in the case of an infant who suffered severe permanent injuries due to medical malpractice during her birth, the Illinois Supreme Court said this morning that caps on non economic damages in medical malpractice cases violate the state’s constitution.

On behalf of the American Bar Association, I applaud lead sponsors Sens. John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Reps. William Delahunt, Ted Poe and Jan Schakowsky for their leadership in introducing the International Violence Against Women Act.

Painting a picture of an overwhelmed immigration court system choked by an “exploding” caseload and an “exponential” increase in outside pressures, a report submitted to the American Bar Association has the ABA considering a host of policy reforms affecting the adjudication system for determining whether to remove noncitizens from the United States.

The American Bar Association 71st Midyear Meeting will bring more than 4,500 legal professionals and their families to Orlando, Fla., Feb, 3-9.

As comprehensive immigration reform looms on the legislative horizon, the American Bar Association will examine recommendations to enhance immigration courts while improving the professionalism, independence and accountability of immigration court judges during the association’s 2010 Midyear Meeting, Feb. 3 – 9, in Orlando, Fla.